Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

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Are Writers Ever Bored Enough?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Two interesting quotes jumped on me in the past few days. One in the January “Vogue” magazine from an interview with Cate Blanchett and the other an opinion piece by a doctor in our local newspaper.

This blog idea came to me when sorting my yarn stash. Fun fur rocks!
This blog idea came to me when sorting my yarn stash. Fun fur rocks!

Blanchett talked about the creative process, “there’s a kind of unrest that I think happens in any creative endeavor. You are endlessly disappointed. I mean, no artist worth their salt is ever pleased.” She went on to quote legendary dancer Martha Graham then wrapped it up with, “And that is actually what keeps you moving forward and makes you stay creatively alive.”

It was a nugget of inspiration I needed after trying to figure out what I want to do when my writing grows up, if ever. It’s also testament to reading everything, because you never know where pearls of advice might be hidden. I’d started reading the article in the middle since I wanted to see what Blanchett said about the new movie she’s in, “The Monuments Men.” I’ve owned the book for years! Now it’s a movie and seriously, who doesn’t want to watch George Clooney?

The opinion piece in the paper centered on the need for children to unplug and venture outside, to actually play with something besides a screen. He talked about the need for children to not be so scheduled, they need boredom time. The line that hit me hard? “Boredom is the furnace of creativity.”

What a great and true sentence. Then I immediately applied everything from both articles to adults and writers. When was the last time you were creatively perfect or truly bored? Can’t remember? Of course not! Between the screens, schedules and sleep, who has time to be perfect or bored?

And that is the issue. Writers and all creatives need time to sit, stare out the window and be restless and bored. When I can’t solve a writing problem, I treat it the same way as a glitchy computer; back away, go outside and reboot. House cleaning and mundane tasks give my right brain a vacation, then while my left brain is carefully supervising sock folding; voila, a solution appears in my right brain. Amazing stuff.

Not perfect? Are you bored today? Excellent!

Read the play article here: http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/01/why_children_should_play_more.html

Welcome to 2014 – Do you Know Where Your Goals Are?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back to the blog. Unlike many folks this year, I’ve decided not to make any New Year’s resolutions I won’t work on after February. Can’t spare the mental energy, so I’ll quit before I add to my list. I’m still working on last year’s goals, so those will roll-forward into this year. When you pick big goals, they can take more than twelve months or last your entire life when you’re a writer.

When "purging" got too much for me in the art studio, I headed for this batch of milk chocolate chip oatmeal Christmas cookies downstairs. Luckily I gave some away as presents so my jeans still fit. Kinda.
When “purging” got too much for me in the art studio, I headed for this batch of milk chocolate chip oatmeal Christmas cookies downstairs. Luckily I gave some away as presents so my jeans still fit. Kinda.

Part of the writing challenge these days is deciding to combine my office and craft projects in the same room to make an “art studio.” This decision has morphed into a mess of gargantuan proportions. If you don’t have the staff of hundreds they use on those organizing tv shows, the whole “shove two rooms together spill out in the hall mess” is daunting.

There have been some up sides; my crafty creative mind keeps straying over into the writing side of the “art studio” and vice a versa. When glue dots, beads and stickers hunker next to yarn, writing manuscripts and photos, interesting things begin to happen. Our environments are very important to us creatives. Of course, the whole finishing thing issue now crops up in all areas of the room. Squirrel!

But when life gets crazy and holidays and people need tending, the mess waits. So my goal is to get the “art studio” in shape by the end of this year. If I give myself tons of time, it feels like a fun goal and not a business plan. More fun, less work this year is my main goal. Along with simplifying. Now, if I can just get Spec Ops Cat to dust.

How About A Thanksgiving Writing Retreat?

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by Kimberly A. Cook       (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Here comes turkey day and then the slippery slope to holiday festivities. In amongst all the carting, preparing, eating and clean-up, perhaps we can all steal some time to write. At some point we may try to lock ourselves in the coat closet anyway, given too much people time, but just in case make a back-up plan to steal some sacred writing time away from the chaos of the season.

The classic Libby's recipe pumpkin pies from my very own kitchen. Can you smell the joy?
The classic Libby’s recipe pumpkin pies from my very own kitchen. Can you smell the joy?

To get us started in the right direction, read these Thoughts on Writing from Elizabeth Gilbert at http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/thoughts-on-writing/  Yes, we know I am a huge fan of hers, but with good reason. She seems so sane. And funny!

An article about her in the Nov/Dec 2013 “Poets & Writers” magazine said she didn’t write for three years while she researched her newly released fiction book. Three years! Fabulous. Here I was worried about sticking my non-fiction book in a box for a couple of months. (http://www.pw.org/content/novemberdecember_2013)

Every one of us has to find our own writer’s path. It’s like cleaning the cat’s litter box – we have to do it because the cat sure isn’t about to scoop poop, he’s got staff. Writers are our own staff and everything else – logistics! (And no, UPS will not write our books. Deliver them? Yes.)

With the changes I am making with knitting, combining my craft and writing spaces, plus focusing on what makes me happy and ignoring the rest, my muse is waking up from slumber. The creative power is eeking back into my veins and I might actually be a tad more pleasant to be around these days, Frustrated creatives are cranky people to be sure, I know this because my family has told me so.

So whether you are participating in the holidays at a DefCon 5 level or ignoring them completely, both are allowed, give yourself the gift of writing time. Plus pumpkin pie of course!

P.S. Turkey Bonus: For the three of you on the planet who don’t know about www.blackfriday.com, you can do shopping recon of the after turkey day ads right now. Happy Thanksgiving!

Are You Ready For Some Gobble Games?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

This video clip makes me laugh every time. Have no clue what the turkeys outside the car are saying, but the one inside the car is too funny to watch. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, what better activity than cross-species communication!

Have a great weekend and make sure to get all the fixin’s for a good Turkey Day holiday with friends or family or both. When my buddy visiting from Australia experienced Thanksgiving for the first time she declared it her new favorite holiday! Happy Quirky Friday!

http://youtu.be/mOuve6jBjaE

How Many Words Make A Book?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

In my quest to purge paper files in my office, I’ve resorted to drastic measures – I’m moving my craft supplies and tools into the same room. This madness is so I can make my “writing office” feel more like an “art studio” and to corral my ever-expanding craft hoarding.

Banker boxes from hell.
Banker boxes from hell.

This mission is not without peril. When I made the big move of the jewelry/sewing table and the wire rack into the office, something had to go; the banker boxes of paper files which need to be sorted. After tripping over them in the hallway for two weeks, luckily Spec Ops Cat can squeeze by to get to his litter box, I finally started sorting this past weekend.

A piece of paper I could not locate a few months ago for a blog post charged into view. Must be time to use it!

The Romance Writers of America newsletter page from the Heart of Oregon chapter in May 1992 remains in my files for good reason. The short article from the Colorado RWA via the Florida RWA newsletter still has great information.

For those of us who proof on paper hard copy, if we use the standard manuscript format still used to submit to traditional publishers – 1 ¼ inch left margin and one-inch right margin – a double-spaced page will average 24 to 26 lines of text. Don’t count the header and use a 12 point font.

With that format in mind, you can use the following “pages-to-words” guide.

# words                      Pages

50,000                        200

55,000                        220

60,000                        240

65,000                        260

70,000                        280

75,000                        300

80,000                        320

85,000                        340

100,000                      400

115,000                      460

This is one way to get a quick idea of page length without trying to figure out your word/page count all mucked together. These guidelines are critical for romance writers who are writing to a specific category book word length. For instance, for those who love the Avon historical romances, most of them are 100,000 words so it means a 400-page double-spaced manuscript. They truly are big books!

This is also how traditional publishers figure out how large or small a book manuscript will be in a flash. Now with ebooks no such rules apply, unless you print out the hard copy like I do to edit.

Another reason to double-space your writing and print it out on hard copy? It’s so much easier to edit with the extra white space. Happy word counting!

Dance Like It’s Not Raining!

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by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Had a very busy day last Saturday, so when I got home I plopped in the LaZBoy and didn’t want to move. Checked out the tv schedule and watched the end of “Dirty Dancing,” and then all of “Grease.” Nothing like great dance music to make you forget dark rainy weather and the coming cold.

Music is always a feel good uplift for me and the soundtrack to “Grease” is one of my favorites. What is even more amazing in this video clip than Olivia Newton John’s sewn on black pants is the fact she not only dances in mule high heels and goes on the weird roller carnival thing wearing them, but she doesn’t kill herself on the Shake Shack with John Travolta’s help. BUT she also dances down the stairs without looking where to put her feet! The woman was then and still is a marvel! Enjoy!

Happy Quirky Friday!

http://youtu.be/tPRHEqfm1JY